Health Screening: Is Body Mass Index Really Important?
Body mass index, or BMI is a quick simple way to assess one’s body “fatness” using a ratio between one’s height and weight.
BMI is often used onsite at employee health fairs as part of their health screenings to estimate health risks including overweight and obesity issues among worker populations.
It is critical to know that BMI does not measure ones body fat percentage but rather provides an estimate of ones potential weight issues for their height.
The reason BMI is a popular tool among employee health fairs is because of the ease of calculation and also because it is less invasive than actual body fat screenings using Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) or use of calipers (a trained specialist take a series of measurements using calipers on several areas on your body).
Learn more about these topics and achieving a healthy weight by visiting HealthAtoZ.com health tools center. Here you will find several assessment tools that you can use for your onsite Worksite Wellness Programs or redirect workers to this site to learn more about evaluating their weight and making changes in their behaviors.
Researchers and health experts are reconsidering the importance of one’s body mass index and the impact having a “less than normal” rate is on our health. An increase in one’s waist circumference and visceral fat (fat encompassing one’s critical organs) is becoming more of a rise risk factor for contracting complex health problems like cardiovascular disease, stroke, and other life-threatening complications.
For women their waist should be less than 35 inches around and less than 40 inches for males. Anything beyond these measurements definitely increases one’s chances of contracting type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease.
How to Measure Your Waist Circumference
Using a tape measure, begin at the top of the hip bone and bring it all the way around keeping it level with the belly button.
Be certain not to hold your breath and keep the tape measure parallel to the floor.
Be certain to add waist circumference testing as part of your worker health screenings in addition to body mass index, health screenings, and other critical tests.
